Saito's address to the passengers
Hi, Guys! Some of you may have read my intro on how I would continue the adventures of Louise and Saito; our two friends are passengers aboard a plane that accidentally flies through a solar eclipse and ends up in Halkeginia. The pilots successfully landed an emergency landing on the meadow where the Ancient Dragon was defeated. But then? What should happen to the passengers? Saito manages to guide the passengers to the magical academy, where they find a shelter. And the next day they are all gathered in the big auditorium, where Saito tells them about their situation, explains to them the new world in which they have gone, and makes suggestions on how to build their further life ... By and large, this is a superficial description of Halkeginia, as Saito has already experienced with Louise, but also an outlook on how Halkeginia could develop through this unexpected visit... ' Saito's address to the passengers' The rows of seats in the auditorium were filled almost to the last seat. Not only the passengers and the pilots of the plane were present, but also some members of the faculty of the Academy. But most of them stood together with Saito in the center of the big room. In the background, the coats of some students of the Academy were seen, who had cheated themselves under the passengers to see first-hand what would happen now and what was going on at all; why such a large number of ordinary people in peculiar clothes had been brought into these venerable halls. Saito looked around at the circle of people around him, put his arm around Louise's shoulders and then, in a low-pitched voice, asked Old Osmond: "I think we're all together now. Can we start?" "I think so," replied the old head of the academy. "Unfortunately, I will hardly understand what you have to tell people. But her reactions will be very interesting. Unfortunately, we still can not reproduce the magic Louise used to teach you back then. He would be very useful now. " "Yes, too bad", Jean Colbert agreed with the words of his superior. "The same has never happened before - or there is no record of it. Maybe then, when our ancestors from this - um, France? - came here? " "Who knows?" Saito took a deep breath and stepped forward. "I greet you, fellow sufferers!" he began his speech. And thanks to the excellent acoustics of the auditorium, his voice was heard up to the last rows. The last murmur of voices in the rows of seats fell silent. "I greet you, fellow sufferers," Saito repeated. "You are in the magic academy of Tristain. Next to me you can see the head of this institution, the Old Osmond, our host. " Osmond, who had at least understood his name, bowed slightly. "My name is Hiraga Saito, a Japanese like many of you. And I'm here to give you an overview of our situation here - what happened, why it happened, and what to do in the future. " Saito briefly changed to English: "My address will be translated later into English to those of you who do not speak Japanese. Until then, I ask for your patience. You too will be taught about our situation and what is to begin now!" Then again in Japanese: "Many of you have rubbed your eyes or pinched your arm when you noticed all the strange things around you. You probably thought, you were in a dream. And some may call that a nightmare. I would agree with you, were it not for a fact: I am not in this situation for the first time! First of all, the facts: We are no longer on Earth. This world is almost a twin brother of the earth, but there are remarkable differences. This world is called Halkeginia. We came here in a way that unfortunately can not be reproduced, so we can not get back to Earth. By flying right through the shadow of the eclipse, which you have surely noticed, towards the sun, something opened, that I would call a Gate, for want of a better name, and we were transferred here to this world. For our fellow humans on earth, this must have worked like one of those cases, that remain inexplicable. As if we had flown into the Bermuda-Triangle and disappeared without a trace. I repeat it again, quite explicitly: We have left the earth, our habitual environment, and have been thrown into this new world. And we can not leave her anymore. Personally, this has not happened to me for the first time. I've been to Halkeginia before and spent a few years here. Then I left this world to return to our earth, together with my wife, who comes from here. "Saito pushed Louise into the foreground and whispered to her," Point out, Louise! " Louise did it, with a remarkable lack of enthusiasm. From the corner of her mouth she whispered to him: "To push me so in the foreground! Do I have to punish you, my familiar? " Saito answered in the same way: "Still your obedient puppy, Louise ... But not in every respect. This is about giving those poor people a first idea of what's waiting for them. You can do without your usual modesty a little bit. " He smiled at his words, to take away their pungency. Louise snorted and dropped her hand again. Saito started again: "Some years ago there was a possibility to get back to earth, but unfortunately this possibility does not exist anymore. My wife was able to open doors to the earth at short notice. This is no longer possible, to my regret. The power that made that possible no longer exists. And that powern, that made it possible was a form of magic! Yes, you heard right: magic! Halkeginia is a magical world, a fantasy world where magic works. And that's the explanation for some of the strange occurrences you've witnessed. The title of a description Halkeginias could begin:'' Here may be dragons!'' And they really exist here! Most of these creatures are wild animals, but there are also a few that have been tamed, and very few of them have voluntarily joined humans. I myself flew over this world on a Dragons Ridge, during my stay at that time. Back to magic! And that is closely related to the social order of this world. There are a large number of people here, as little as you and I can do magic. They are called 'ordinary', 'peasants' or 'plebeians'. And there is a thin upper class of people who are capable of doing so. Because of their ability, these people take power- and leadership-positions in this world. They belong to the noble caste of this world. Think of these nobles in attitude and behavior as samurai of the Tokugawa era or of European nobility from the time of serfdom. They expect from us 'ordinary' nothing less than obedience! This institution we are in now, explicitly serves to train such young noblemen and woman to become magicians. I have seen in your ranks some students of the Academy who want to know firsthand what we are all about. Look at your neighbors. Those wearing coats that are closed with brooches are such young magicians - still students, but still far superior to us in their ability to enforce their will. " Saito changed over to the usual dialect here in Tristain. "Hello, you, students of this academy! Some of you know me, others have at least heard of me. My name is Saito, the Familiar, who, together with Louise de la Valliére, has been at the forefront of fighting the Ancient Dragon. For the sake of me, I ask you to see over initial derailments in the behavior of these people or misunderstandings! These people are a valuable asset, a national treasure trove of wisdom and knowledge, that can help our country take a big step forward. So leave them alone! They'll have a hard enough time finding their way into this world. " Meanwhile, unrest has spread in the ranks of the passengers. The people looked around and whispered together. Saito switched back to the familiar Japanese: "I have just asked the students present here to consider you as persons, whose customs differ from their, until further notice. At first: nothing is expected of you but courtesy. And that should not be unusual for us Japanese. Think of these people as those who are superior to us through their abilities. But they are only people too. They want to be treated politely, if only to give them a respectful nod or bow." Saito bit back a grin of pain. "But do not expect the same courtesy in return! These are proud people who are accustomed to enforce their will. Your restlessness is understandable. You wonder, if you have suddenly been demoted to slaves or serfs. That's not the case! During my previous stay here in Tristain I managed to gain a certain position of power. I have even been elevated to the peerage for my services to the crown of Tristain, though I have no magic of any kind. So you see, the way to the levers of power for us is not unapproachable. There are also 'commoners' who have attained a certain position of power. Such ordinations are achieved through merit, and I have become partakers of it. Such opportunities are not ... often, but they do happen. I thought, I had left everything behind, when I went back to Earth with my wife Louise. I had renounced everything that was given to me here in honor and prosperity. In my view, the benefits of living in a civilized world, with running warm water and the familiar surroundings, outweighed it.” He grinned slightly distorted. "What I did not mean to say, that these people were uncivilized here. They're just a bit ... backward ... "Saito crossed his arms over his head and shouted," Do not hit me, Louise! " Louise's face had flushed in anger. She looked, as if she was ready to give Saito a juicy slap. "Do I have to get a riding crop again?" she said squeezed. There was a wave of suppressed laughter through the ranks of the Academy-students and the faculty. "I'm sorry, Louise," Saito said with a smile. "But you have seen my world and are able to make comparisons. You should admit, that life on earth had its advantages. There was the pill, there were pampers for chibi and fried tofu on every corner. Here there are fleas and now and then assassins, who want you to leather. Think of your caesarean section, Louise, what probably saved your life! And the doctors here - before Semmelweiss. We first have to teach them what hygiene realy means. You have to admit that. " "I have to," Louise mumbled. "But I do not have to like it ..." Saito turned his attention back to the passengers. "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen. A small disagreement with my wife, as it happens in every marriage. But back to the topic: Like I said, I thought, I'd left everything in this world, when Louise and I returned to Earth. But now, that I am back in Halkeginia, I am able to claim some favor. And these should benefit you. I hope to place you directly under the crown of Tristain. You would be, so to speak, private property of the Queen of Tristain, who is a very dear friend of mine, and a thoroughly decent woman of irreproachable character. What you are going to do with your life in this new world is yours. Everyone has to work for a living - this is no different here on Halkeginia than on Earth. But I have just referred to the students of magic to you as a treasure, a national resource for Tristain. And as such, you should now see yourself. What makes you incredibly valuable to Halkeginia is your experience, your knowledge. From a technological point of view, the Earth is Halkeginia centuries ahead. There is so much we can teach people here! The culture level here corresponds approximately to the European Baroque. It will probably not be possible to close this gap only through your instructions. We are too few, and generally we lack the scientific foundation. Moreover, not everyone of you has technological skills. But that's not necessary! Every knowledge has its value. For example, double-entry bookkeeping is known to this world, but the ability to learn about trends and the like through statistics is not. I think someone who opens the door to a local businessman or merchant can make up his weight in gold - though gold in this world does not have the value it had in our world. "Saito laughed. "The old alchemist's dream of the transmutation of the elements has long since become true in this world. You can make gold here, through alchemy. Unprocessed gold is not worth much here. But artistically processed gold has value, because it incorporates the work and genius of each jeweler. " Again a wave of murmurs ran through the room. Some of the passengers nodded meaningfully. "Others of you may possess skills as cooks - even if they are hobby-cooks. You may be able to create entirely new culinary delights that no local chef has ever thought of. And I assure you, that the local bigwigs here appreciates such arts very much! Some of you may know Mark Twain's satire "A Yankey at King Arthur's Court". Of course that was just a brilliant impudence, and I do not think, we'll have phones, bicycles and machine guns here within a few years. The Merlins of this world will know how to defend themselves! They are anything but charlatans, and their magic works reliably. But if we succeed in making them comfortable, supporting them, then, yes ... You have no idea what value a simple log dashboard would have! Mathematics has actually progressed to differential calculus, but integral calculus has only been heard here by those who occasionally had contact with me, not to mention infinitesimal calculus. "Saito grinned. "Which is also a sealed book for me. Are randomly math teachers among us? I assure you, even the most learned minds in the world would follow attentively your lectures ... I think, we will have to start a university here, to pass on our knowledge to all those, who thirst for it. And quite apart from the fact that'' your'' status in this world will increase as a result, your knowledge will also improve the living conditions of ordinary people here. They are not unhappy with their lives, you are assured, but few improvements can increase their quality of life. Simple hygiene measures can save lives. A farmer can guess a crop rotation that improves his harvest. A new 'manessic handwriting' is waiting to be designed by one of you! The possibilities, that are offered to us are endless! It is up to you to seize them. " Saito wiped his forehead. He had so much increased in his speech that he had gone into sweat! "Some words about the political division of this world. The outlines of the countries around Tristain roughly correspond to those of Europe. But geography is a completely different one. To the south of us lies the land of Gallia, behind is Romalia. The largest part of Spain seems to be missing, the rest belongs to Gallia. Romalia in the south is about, where Italy is on our earth. But the whole peninsula is smaller and has no resemblance to the Italian boot. Northeast of Tristain lies Germania. That would be about Germany. But this country is huge and extends to areas where Russia is on our earth. Scandinavia seems to be missing completely. A special case is Albion. You will have guessed it by name: Albion is England. But Albion has a special feature: it floats above the water! You do not have to look so incredulous - it really does! This is attributable to the so-called Windstones - magical minerals, that occur naturally in this world. Long ago, Albion seems to have looked like a normal country - an island, not unlike England, without Ireland and Scotland. But the windstones in the subsoil continued to fill up over time, until the island broke loose from its pedestal and rose into the sky. Since then Albion floats above the sea and is moved back and forth with the tides. Sometimes it is closer to the mainland, sometimes further out on the sea. The rain, that falls on Albion, accumulates in rivers that fall at the end of the country in huge waterfalls over the edges down into the sea and thereby dissolve in spray and water dust. A fantastic sight, which I was already allowed to enjoy. Albion is only to reach with airships. Some of you will have seen such things - or will see them. They really look like old seagoing ships with sails and wings. You will have rubbed your eyes and wondered if you are dreaming. These airships are all too real. Their floating ability is due to the same windstones, that keep Albion in the air. Further into the continent, beyond Gallia and Germania, things become very strange and have no more earthly correspondences. There is a central desert called Sahara, probably based on the Sahara on Earth. These are the areas where the elves live. The elves deserve special mention. They are more technologically advanced than the humans here and master forms of magic that are completely unknown here. For them, more or less every elf is a magician. They call semself the first-born children of Halkeginia, and I think, that name is justified. I think, the elves are the real natives of Halkeginia. We humans are something weierd in their eyes, new arrivals and barbarians. They call us savages - perhaps not entirely unjustified, considering our nature. I suspect that all the people here on Halkeginia are descended from such cunning people in time and space as we are. The similarity of names and designations suggests this. And our ancestors were no saints! Between elves and humans smoldering for over 6000 years a bitter conflict. I've been able to look into that time myself - do not ask me how that happened! I can only guess that, but will not do you any good. At first you only need to know the following: Over 6,000 years ago, a man lived here in Halkeginia, today called Brimir, the Founder. He is worshiped everywhere - especially in Romalia, which is also called the Holy Land. They even there have a pope ... but only by the way. Brimir probably got along well with the elves at first, even married one of them and they had a few children. From these are derived the royal families of the five countries, so it is said. As I said, initially Brimir got along quite well with the elves. And he discovered a whole new kind of magic, called Void. The only earthly analogue I can think of, is the vacuum-energy, that some of you may have heard. That's the energy of quantum interactions, which is incredibly strong. Until today, it has not been possible on earth to extract even the least amount of energy from it - which is perhaps quite good! The amount of energy contained in the vacuum of an ordinary small light bulb would be able to turn the earth into cosmic dust! And if she did a little more effort, about a power of ten, the whole solar system would go to hell! Quite as strong as this power, the spells that could be done with void magic do not seem to be, but yet earth-shaking. My wife, "he pointed out to Louise," was able to create spell effects not unlike those of a small nuclear bomb. Before you ask, that kind of magic had been able to create such portals to Earth that I have already mentioned. But that kind of magic does not exist anymore! It was completely consumed when, a few years ago, we fought a dreadful monster capable of destroying entire Halkeginia to ashes and dust. That was the Ancient Dragon. Think a GozillaOf course Saito calld it "Gojiira" because he is a japanese, and so is called "Gozilla" originally-like Monster with wings, containing of lava!” Saito visibly shuddered and wiped his forehead. "Many lives were lost in the course of this struggle, entire cities were burned to the ground. But last we managed to defeat the monster. Even the elves helped us with their air fleet, though I believe they did, because the monster also threatened them. My wife did the most for the final victory, and I also helped by supporting her with my skills. I was rewarded for that. You wonder, what skills? I have to get something out of this. The local magicians are able to summon a familiar, a tsukaima. This is usually an animal, that supports their aspirations. But it's different with void mages. They can only win people - or elves - to tsukaimas, and it's not said that both parts get along well ... Anyway, Louise tried a few years ago to summon a confidant for herself. And she got ... me! She conjured me out of Tokyo here! At this time, she did not know she had the power of the Void. '' You can imagine my confusion! I was just a college-boy in Japan, and suddenly I should serve to a budding magician as ''tsukaima! I understood nothing, was reluctant and obstinate. But over time we both found out, that the familiar of a void magician has special powers. I had become a Gandalfr, a kind of bodyguard and fighter who could take on a great superiority. Later, I was given additional powers by another void mage, as she wanted me to become her familiar. I became the lifdrasir, a kind of amp for void magic. And so I was able to assist Louise in destroying the monster. And over time, we both learned to love each other "- Saito smiled weakly -" even though there was not all milk and honey between us. "Saito grabbed Louise's hand. She faintly tried to avoid it, but Saito raised her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on it. Louise did not struggle any longer. "Louise understands Japanese, even if she does not speak very well. She learned it while she was with me in Japan. That's why you can turn to her with your worries. Like I said, this void magic does not exist anymore. All her strength was used up to fight the'' Ancient Dragon''. But back then, when Brimir was alive, the Void's power was still fresh and unbroken. As I said, in the beginning Brimir and the elves still got along. But that changed. Brimir and Sasha, his Elven familar, his'' Gandalfr'', quarreled - I do not know, why. And last, Brimir turned against the elves. He tried to eradicate them all with his void magic! Sasha killed him by stabbing him with a sword. Incidentally, this sword still exists - in fact, the spirit that is inherent in it. It is in my possession. Because it is of course a magic sword, that can talk. "Saito grinned. "Do you understand now, why the elves hate and fear us humans?" Saito took a short break, which he used to look around the auditorium. In the last row of seats on top of the west side he discovered two familiar faces. Saito changed briefly into the language Halkeginias. "Lukshana and Ari, would you please get up and have a look?" The two addressed rose hesitantly. Saito switched back to Japanese and pointed upwards. "That, friends, are two elves, Lukshana and Ari. They live here half in exile to study us humans. They do not hate us - rather they are fascinated by us humans. Are we more trustworthy than our ancestors? They want to find out. Please, honor them with an applause. " The auditorium echoed with a deafening cheer, and the two elves dropped back into their seats, confused. Even those passengers, who did not speak Japanese, participate in this applause - it could not hurt, could it? "That's the way it is with the elves," Saito continued. He smiled a little bit wrong. "Those of you who have had a closer look at Lukshana have certainly noticed their radiant beauty. You may wonder if one can and should approach this lady ... I just say to you: Steer clear of her! Ari feels like her protector and can be very angry if you allow her unwelcome confidentiality! As I said earlier, the Elven Air Force helped us destroy the Ancient Dragon - in fact, without their intervention, there would have been much more casualties. And as the elves left us, to return to their homeland, they were relieved that the Void's power had burned out. Now it would no longer be possible to use this power against them. And so I believe that the relationships between elves and humans will slowly improve. We owe them much, and we should pay that debt by sharing in the progress that I hope to make through you. One last thing to help you integrate into this world: language. If Europeans are among you, they will have remembered something familiar-sounding, if you've heard my words in Halkeginia's language. Others may have heard members of the staff of the Academy speak and have felt the same way. In short, Halkeginia's language is a rather ancient form of French. It is spoken in all five countries, although there may be local dialects and, depending on the region, loanwords. In Germania, for example, words and names could have survived from the old Allemanish, in Albion those from the medieval English. But this ancient French is the common language spoken and understood throughout Halkeginia. You will have no choice but to learn this language, if you want to successfully integrate into this new world. We will set up language courses that will enable you to do this. Initially, Louise and I will act as your instructors and translators. Where all this is supposed to take place is still completely open. Every hour I expect the arrival of Queen Henrietta of Tristain, who is certainly curious to know what has happened here extraordinarily. She will certainly come as soon as the passage of her royal duties makes it possible. And there are many of those duties, and I do not envy them! That would be, first of all, everything that comes to my mind. My wife Louise will now take you to the dining room where you can have a meal. " Saito changed over to English. "Those of you who speak English, I ask you to stay still. I will now repeat in English the speech I have given my Japanese compatriots." Louise looked up at her husband, a little surprised and doubtful. "I'm discovering new sides to you, Saito. You've always seemed to me beeing the lone fighter, and now you turn out to be a human leader ... " Saito shrugged. "What else should I have done, Louise? It has to be, otherwise we will lose this opportunity. And otherwise ... Life with you and our parenting has changed some things. Responsibility grows over time and through such things. We can do no more than give our best - to the best Halkeginias and Tristains. " Louise nodded and started down the hall to the exit. Slowly, the ranks of the auditorium emptied. Around Louise, a crowd of people gathered, while the Japanese among the passengers to her ... Category:Candidates for deletion